What was the first commemorative coin (ever)?

dan1ecu

Does anyone know when was the first coin struck specifically to commemorate something or someone?

Dan

ms70

The Columbian Half & Quarter?

coinmickey

Actually, it might be a Greek or Roman coin. The Romans struck coins all the time commemorating some achievement or paying tribute to someone. I'm not up on the Greek coinage, which came prior to Roman coinage.

Outhaul

Columbian half of 1892. The Izzie came in 1893 along with the second issue of the half.

Cheers,

Bob

Dennis88

The greeks and romans issued commemorative coins to honor important people, and to bring news to the people. Coins were one of the only ways, because there weren't any newspapers yet!!!

Dennis

tradedollarnut

Not the first ever, but definitely predates the Columbian Exposition:

Goldfinger

That's an interesting question, interesting being defined as something I don't know the answer to.

Did these early coins merely feature the ruler at the time, or actually commemorate a particular event? And were they used in commerce, or medals?